Hello, I am moving along on my Bruce floor installation. I purchased 3/4 bruce hardwood. When I purchased it, I ask what to put under the hardwood. The sales guy at lowes pointed to some red kraft paper of some sort. I am installing in a 10 year old house. The subfloor is some sort of pressed wood. What does this paper do for me if anything? The flooring is being installed in a ranch home on top of a finished basement. Thanks for any input.

Pressed wood? You better find out if it is OSB or particle board or flake board. Particle board and flake board are a no no and even OSB is iffy at best. You may need new plywood underlayment over it with 15lb felt. Never listen to a box store employee.

Thank you for your response. I just pulled out some 10 year old hardwood from my kitchen and decided to just to replace the whole area and my living room at the same time. Instead of a seam or trying to match bruce finished with do it myself stain and poly. Hardwood lasted over 10 years in the kitchen and I never had any problems with it on the same subfloor. Hopefully the builder and contractors knew what they were doing when they built the house.

Anyway, I am half way through now. But I did read that papers only purpose was to help the wood scoot easier during installation. Again thank you for your input.

Replaceing the whole floor is a good idea. It eliminates lots of issues.

But roofing felt also slows down moisture coming up from down below in the subfloor. Paper can hold moisture in. It can also slow down leaks from up top going into the subfloor and underlayment. There are other vapor retarders out there that do as well or better. Kraft paper is not recognized by anyone I know of. It's just a cheap alternative.